Donald Trump on social media: Difference between revisions

[[File:Donald Trump and Theresa May (33998675310) (cropped).jpg|thumb|President [[Donald Trump]] with Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] in the [[Oval Office]] at the [[White House]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], January 27, 2017. The [[Premiership of Theresa May|May Ministry]] condemned Trump’s Tweets and [[Britain First]].]]

[[File:Donald Trump and Theresa May (33998675310) (cropped).jpg|thumb|President [[Donald Trump]] with Prime Minister [[Theresa May]] in the [[Oval Office]] at the [[White House]] in [[Washington, D.C.]], January 27, 2017. The [[Premiership of Theresa May|May Ministry]] condemned Trump’s Tweets and [[Britain First]].]]

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On November 29, 2017, Trump retweeted three inflammatory and unverified [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] videos from [[Britain First]], the British [[far-right]] and [[ultranationalist]] group that has a history of posting misleading videos. One of the videos purported to show an assault by a Muslim immigrant, but the assailant was neither a Muslim nor an immigrant. {{citenews|last1=Baynes|first1=Chris|title=WomanwhosharedBritainFirsttweetswithDonaldTrumpsaysitis’irrelevant’theyaremisleading|url=https://wwwindependentcouk/news/world/americas/ann-coulter-britain-first-donald-trump-retweets-videos-migrants-netherlands-muslim-racist-a8084026html|accessdate=December12017|work=[[The Independent]]|date=December 30, 2017}} Another video was filmed in 2013 during the [[Syrian Civil War]], showing a man, who is believed to be an [[Al-Nusra Front|Al-Nusra]] supporter, [[Desecration|destroying]] a statue of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] and stating: “No-one but [[Allah]] will be worshipped in the land of the [[Levant]].” A third video contains footage filmed during a period of violent unrest following the [[2013 Egyptian coup d’état]]. {{citenews|last1=Lawless|first1=Jill|title=Trump’sMuslimretweetsdrawfirefromUSandabroad|url=https://wwwwashingtonpostcom/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_storyhtml|accessdate=November302017|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130123926/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_story.html|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=Harrison|first1=Angus|title=TheTruthBehindThoseAnti-MuslimVideosDonaldTrumpJustRetweeted|url=https://wwwvicecom/en_ca/article/qvzdb5/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted|accessdate=November292017|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130024631/https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qvzdb5/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}} The videos had been shared by [[Jayda Fransen]], the deputy leader of Britain First, who was convicted of [[Crime and Disorder Act 1998#Racially or religiously aggravated offences|religiously aggravated harassment]] in Britain in 2016. Trump’s promoting inflammatory content from an extremist group was without precedent among modern American presidents. Peter Baker & Eileen Sullivan, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/us/politics/trump-anti-muslim-videos-jayda-fransen.html Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos, and Britain’s Leader Condemns Them] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129232405/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/us/politics/trump-anti-muslim-videos-jayda-fransen.html |date=November 29, 2017 }}”New York Times” (November 29, 2017): “No modern American president has promoted inflammatory content of this sort from an extremist organization. Mr. Trump’s two most recent predecessors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both made a point of avoiding public messages that were likely to be seen as anti-Muslim and could exacerbate racial and religious animosities, arguing that the war against terrorism was not a war against Islam.”

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On November 29, 2017, Trump retweeted three inflammatory and unverified [[Islamophobia|anti-Muslim]] videos from [[Britain First]], the British [[far-right]] and [[ultranationalist]] group that has a history of posting misleading videos. One of the videos purported to show an assault by a Muslim immigrant, but the assailant was neither a Muslim nor an immigrant. {{citenews|last1=Baynes|first1=Chris|title=WomanwhosharedBritainFirsttweetswithDonaldTrumpsaysitis’irrelevant’theyaremisleading|url=https://wwwindependentcouk/news/world/americas/ann-coulter-britain-first-donald-trump-retweets-videos-migrants-netherlands-muslim-racist-a8084026html|accessdate=December12017|work=[[The Independent]]|date=December 30, 2017}} Another video was filmed in 2013 during the [[Syrian Civil War]], showing a man, who is believed to be an [[Al-Nusra Front|Al-Nusra]] supporter, [[Desecration|destroying]] a statue of [[Mary, mother of Jesus|Mary]] and stating: “No-one but [[Allah]] will be worshipped in the land of the [[Levant]].” A third video contains footage filmed during a period of violent unrest following the [[2013 Egyptian coup d’état]]. {{citenews|last1=Lawless|first1=Jill|title=Trump’sMuslimretweetsdrawfirefromUSandabroad|url=https://wwwwashingtonpostcom/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_storyhtml|accessdate=November302017|work=[[The Washington Post]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130123926/https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/courts_law/trumps-muslim-retweets-draw-fire-from-us-and-abroad/2017/11/29/19166c60-d52c-11e7-9ad9-ca0619edfa05_story.html|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=Harrison|first1=Angus|title=TheTruthBehindThoseAnti-MuslimVideosDonaldTrumpJustRetweeted|url=https://wwwvicecom/en_ca/article/qvzdb5/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted|accessdate=November292017|work=[[Vice (magazine)|Vice]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130024631/https://www.vice.com/en_ca/article/qvzdb5/the-truth-behind-those-anti-muslim-videos-donald-trump-just-retweeted|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}} The videos had been shared by [[Jayda Fransen]], the deputy leader of Britain First, who was convicted of [[Crime and Disorder Act 1998#Racially or religiously aggravated offences|religiously aggravated harassment]] in Britain in 2016. Trump’s promoting inflammatory content from an extremist group was without precedent among modern American presidents. Peter Baker & Eileen Sullivan, [https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/us/politics/trump-anti-muslim-videos-jayda-fransen.html Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos, and Britain’s Leader Condemns Them] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129232405/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/29/us/politics/trump-anti-muslim-videos-jayda-fransen.html |date=November 29, 2017 }}”New York Times” (November 29, 2017): “No modern American president has promoted inflammatory content of this sort from an extremist organization. Mr. Trump’s two most recent predecessors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both made a point of avoiding public messages that were likely to be seen as anti-Muslim and could exacerbate racial and religious animosities, arguing that the war against terrorism was not a war against Islam.”

Trump’s actions were widely condemned both in the U.S. and abroad by politicians, commentators and religious leaders of various faiths and across the political spectrum; also by several [[civil rights]] and [[advocacy groups]] and organizations. {{citenews|last1=Gillett|first1=Francesca|title=DonaldTrumpretweetsBritainFirstdeputy:TheresaMaycondemnsUSPresidentforsharinganti-Muslimvideos|url=https://wwwstandardcouk/news/uk/donald-trump-retweets-britain-first-deputy-theresa-may-condemns-us-president-for-sharing-antimuslim-a3705396html|accessdate=November292017|work=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129195923/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/donald-trump-retweets-britain-first-deputy-theresa-may-condemns-us-president-for-sharing-antimuslim-a3705396.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=John|first1=Tara|title=3ThingstoKnowAboutBritainFirsttheFar-RightGroupPresidentTrumpRetweeted|url=http://timecom/5040627/britain-first-trump-tweet/|accessdate=November292017|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129175002/http://time.com/5040627/britain-first-trump-tweet/|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=Belam|first1=Martin|last2=Holmes|first2=Oliver|title=’Evilracist’:howtheUKreactedtoTrump’sTheresaMayTwitterattack|url=https://wwwtheguardiancom/us-news/2017/nov/30/evil-racist-how-the-uk-reacted-to-trumps-theresa-may-twitter-attack|accessdate=November302017|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 30, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130110916/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/evil-racist-how-the-uk-reacted-to-trumps-theresa-may-twitter-attack|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-britain-first-retweet-muslim-migrants-jayda-fransen-deputy-leader-a8082001.html|title=Donald Trump retweets Britain First deputy leader’s Islamophobic posts|newspaper=The Independent|date=November 29, 2017|accessdate=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129125553/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-britain-first-retweet-muslim-migrants-jayda-fransen-deputy-leader-a8082001.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}} The incident resulted in calls for Trump to be [[List of people banned from entering the United Kingdom|banned from the UK]],[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-42174937/jo-cox-widower-trump-legitimising-hatred Jo Cox widower: Trump ‘legitimising’ hatred] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130013313/http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-42174937/jo-cox-widower-trump-legitimising-hatred |date=November 30, 2017 }}BBC News (November 20, 2017). Brendan Cox, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/29/donald-trump-britain-first-hate-best-response-tolerance By retweeting Britain First, Trump offends a decency he cannot understand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130014658/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/29/donald-trump-britain-first-hate-best-response-tolerance |date=November 30, 2017 }}”The Guardian” (November 29, 2017). but his invitation to [[United States presidential visits to the United Kingdom and Ireland|visit to the United Kingdom]] was not withdrawn. When asked by [[PBS NewsHour]], 29 [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and four [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States Senate|senators]] criticized the tweets. {{citenews|last1=Desjardins|first1=Lisa|last2=Bush|first2=Daniel|title=WeaskedeverysenatorfortheirreactiontoTrump’santi-Muslimretweets|url=https://wwwpbsorg/newshour/politics/we-asked-every-senator-for-their-reaction-to-trumps-anti-muslim-retweets|accessdate=November302017|work=[[PBS NewsHour]]|date=November 29, 2017}} [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Theresa May]] said in a statement, “it is wrong for the president to have done this” and “Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.”{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-trump-retweets-anti-muslim-videos-posted-far-right-u-n824836|title=British PM May issues rare rebuke of Trump for retweeting anti-Muslim videos|last=Smith|first=Saphora|date=November 30, 2017|work=NBC News|accessdate=November 30, 2017}}{{citenews|last1=Masters|first1=James|last2=Landers|first2=Elizabeth|title=Trumpretweetsanti-Muslimvideos|url=http://editioncnncom/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/indexhtml|accessdate=November292017|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129152208/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/index.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}

Trump’s actions were widely condemned both in the U.S. and abroad by politicians, commentators and religious leaders of various faiths and across the political spectrum; also by several [[civil rights]] and [[advocacy groups]] and organizations. {{citenews|last1=Gillett|first1=Francesca|title=DonaldTrumpretweetsBritainFirstdeputy:TheresaMaycondemnsUSPresidentforsharinganti-Muslimvideos|url=https://wwwstandardcouk/news/uk/donald-trump-retweets-britain-first-deputy-theresa-may-condemns-us-president-for-sharing-antimuslim-a3705396html|accessdate=November292017|work=[[London Evening Standard]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129195923/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/donald-trump-retweets-britain-first-deputy-theresa-may-condemns-us-president-for-sharing-antimuslim-a3705396.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=John|first1=Tara|title=3ThingstoKnowAboutBritainFirsttheFar-RightGroupPresidentTrumpRetweeted|url=http://timecom/5040627/britain-first-trump-tweet/|accessdate=November292017|work=[[Time (magazine)|Time]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129175002/http://time.com/5040627/britain-first-trump-tweet/|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{citenews|last1=Belam|first1=Martin|last2=Holmes|first2=Oliver|title=’Evilracist’:howtheUKreactedtoTrump’sTheresaMayTwitterattack|url=https://wwwtheguardiancom/us-news/2017/nov/30/evil-racist-how-the-uk-reacted-to-trumps-theresa-may-twitter-attack|accessdate=November302017|work=[[The Guardian]]|date=November 30, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130110916/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/nov/30/evil-racist-how-the-uk-reacted-to-trumps-theresa-may-twitter-attack|archivedate=November 30, 2017|df=mdy-all}}{{cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-britain-first-retweet-muslim-migrants-jayda-fransen-deputy-leader-a8082001.html|title=Donald Trump retweets Britain First deputy leader’s Islamophobic posts|newspaper=The Independent|date=November 29, 2017|accessdate=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129125553/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/us-politics/donald-trump-britain-first-retweet-muslim-migrants-jayda-fransen-deputy-leader-a8082001.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}} The incident resulted in calls for Trump to be [[List of people banned from entering the United Kingdom|banned from the UK]],[https://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-42174937/jo-cox-widower-trump-legitimising-hatred Jo Cox widower: Trump ‘legitimising’ hatred] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130013313/http://www.bbc.com/news/av/uk-42174937/jo-cox-widower-trump-legitimising-hatred |date=November 30, 2017 }}BBC News (November 20, 2017). Brendan Cox, [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/29/donald-trump-britain-first-hate-best-response-tolerance By retweeting Britain First, Trump offends a decency he cannot understand] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171130014658/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/29/donald-trump-britain-first-hate-best-response-tolerance |date=November 30, 2017 }}”The Guardian” (November 29, 2017). but his invitation to [[United States presidential visits to the United Kingdom and Ireland|visit to the United Kingdom]] was not withdrawn. When asked by [[PBS NewsHour]], 29 [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic]] and four [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican]] [[United States Senate|senators]] criticized the tweets. {{citenews|last1=Desjardins|first1=Lisa|last2=Bush|first2=Daniel|title=WeaskedeverysenatorfortheirreactiontoTrump’santi-Muslimretweets|url=https://wwwpbsorg/newshour/politics/we-asked-every-senator-for-their-reaction-to-trumps-anti-muslim-retweets|accessdate=November302017|work=[[PBS NewsHour]]|date=November 29, 2017}} [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom]] [[Theresa May]] said in a statement, “it is wrong for the president to have done this” and “Britain First seeks to divide communities through their use of hateful narratives which peddle lies and stoke tensions.”{{cite news|url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/donald-trump/president-trump-retweets-anti-muslim-videos-posted-far-right-u-n824836|title=British PM May issues rare rebuke of Trump for retweeting anti-Muslim videos|last=Smith|first=Saphora|date=November 30, 2017|work=NBC News|accessdate=November 30, 2017}}{{citenews|last1=Masters|first1=James|last2=Landers|first2=Elizabeth|title=Trumpretweetsanti-Muslimvideos|url=http://editioncnncom/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/indexhtml|accessdate=November292017|publisher=[[CNN]]|date=November 29, 2017|deadurl=no|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20171129152208/http://edition.cnn.com/2017/11/29/politics/donald-trump-retweet-jayda-fransen/index.html|archivedate=November 29, 2017|df=mdy-all}}

Then-White House Press SecretarySean Spicer said during his tenure that Trump’s tweets are “considered official statements by the President of the United States”. [6] According to a June 2017 Fox News poll, 70 percent of respondents said Trump’s tweets were hurting his agenda and 17 percent said the tweets were helpful. [7][8]

Background: Social media in the United States presidential election campaigns[edit]

The emergence of social media has changed the way in which politicalcommunication takes place in the United States. Political institutions such as politicians, political partiesfoundations, institutions, and politicalthink tanks are all using social media platforms, like Facebook and Twitterto communicate with and engage voters. Regular individuals, politicians, “pundits” and thought leaders alike are able to voice their opinions, engage with a wide network, and connect with other likeminded individuals. [9] According to Wael Ghonimsocial media can reinforce pre-existing beliefs rather than promote new ones. Social media, while a great source of gathering volunteers and money, serves the main purpose of affirming political beliefs and strengthening a political base. [10] Politicians have a platform to communicate with that is different from the mainstream media. Politicians have the ability to raise large amounts of money in relatively short periods of time through social media campaigns. In 2012 President Obama raised over a billion dollars for his campaign, which broke the fundraising record. Around $690 million was raised through online donations including social media, email, and website donations and more money was raised from small donors than ever before. [11]

The 2008 US presidential election was the first election in which candidates utilized the Internet and social media networking as a communicative tool incorporated into candidates’ campaigns. [12] In 2008, President-elect Barack Obama was the first to use the Internet to organize supporters, advertise, and communicate with individuals in a way that had been impossible in previous elections. [13] Obama utilized sites like YouTube to advertise through videos. The videos posted on YouTube by Obama’s were viewed for 14.5 million hours. [13][14]
As of 2012[update]election more candidates were utilizing a wider array of social media platforms. [15] Politicians were now on social networking sites like TwitterInstagramYouTube and other new social media tools and mobile apps. Some of the candidates used social media sites to announce their candidacy. Barack Obama emailed a video to 13 million when he announced his intention to run for re-election and Mitt Romney sent out a tweet. [15]
By May 16, 2011, @BarackObama was followed by 7.4 million people, including twenty-eight world leaders. [16] His account became the third account to reach 10 million followers in September 2011. [17][18]

Donald Trump’s tweet activity from his first tweet in May 2009. His tweet activity pattern has changed from 2013.

The Trump presidential campaign benefited from large numbers of supporters who were active on social media from the beginning of the campaign. Some supporters called themselves “Centipedes” online. [19]

In 2009, marketing staffer Peter Costanzo suggested to Trump that he could use social media to draw attention to his book, Think Like a Championwhich was due to be released later that year. He was unable to use the username @DonaldTrump, as it was already being used by a parody account. He and his marketing team decided to use the username @realDonaldTrump. [20] Trump sent out his first tweet on May 4, 2009, advertising his upcoming appearance on the Late Show with David Lettermanwhich was due to air a couple of days later. [20]

From 2009 to 2011, tweets posted by the @realDonaldTrump account included the phrase “from Donald Trump” to distinguish them from those written by his staff, but by about June 2011, as Trump’s use of the platform increased, those identifying labels disappeared. [20] By the 2016 campaign, researchers observed that some tweets—often those with the most critical opinions—were being submitted from an Android phone, while others were sent to Twitter from an iPhone. [21][22] This suggested that members of Trump’s staff were still responsible for some of the messages sent under his account, a suspicion that was largely confirmed using sentiment analysis. [23] As president, Trump stopped use of his Android due to security concerns; however, machine learning and natural language processing could still frequently distinguish Trump’s tweets from those sent in his name, even when staffers attempted to emulate his writing style. [24]

In 2012, following the victory of President Barack Obama in the US Presidential election, Trump tweeted a chain of disparaging comments about Obama’s win. Trump began that Election Day with a flurry of familiar complaints. He mocked Obama for playing basketball and blamed the Chinese for creating “the concept of global warming”. Trump tweeted the next day, “but we’ll have to live with it!” and: We have to make America great again![25] In response, Obama quipped on The Tonight Show With Jay Leno that Trump’s beef with him “dated back to their days growing up in Kenya”. [26]

From 2013 onwards, Trump’s Twitter activity pattern significantly increased in the volume of his tweets and the rate of politically charged rhetoric, channeling the same bluntness that helped fuel his political rise. [27][28]

In 2017, Trump was described as “possibly the first ‘social media’ and ‘reality TV’ president” in an article by Van Jones on CNN‘s website in October 2017. Following Trump’s inauguration, he gained control of the official U.S. Presidential Twitter account (@POTUS), which had been created by the previous President, Barack Obama. Trump’s first tweets as president were made from his personal account, but he has used both accounts. [31]

Trump is a known viewer of the Fox News show Fox & Friends and has tweeted reactions to what he has seen on the show on numerous occasions. One well-known example is his tweet on January 2, 2018, when he stated that his “Nuclear Button” was “much bigger & more powerful” than Kim Jong Un‘s, following a Fox News segment about Jong Un’s “Nuclear Button” minutes before. Trump watches several hours of cable news shows each day, using the “Super TiVo” he had installed at the White House. [32] News organizations have compiled lists of Trump tweets directly repeating what he was watching. The result is that stories that Fox concentrates on become nationally important stories by virtue of the fact that they appear in presidential tweets, setting up a feedback loop. [33] For his first year in office, he has mentioned the Fox & Friends Twitter account more than any other account. [34]

In January 2016, a review by The New York Times found that one in every eight posts by Trump on Twitter “was a personal insult of some kind”. [35] As of November 2017[update]Trump had insulted 394 people (including private citizens), places, and things on Twitter, ranging from politicians to journalists and news outlets to entire countries. [36] A 2015 Trump tweet against an 18-year-old college student who had challenged him at a New Hampshirepolitical forum led to a wave of online harassment against her. [37] In December 2016, then-president-elect Trump responded to criticism from the president of United Steelworkers Local 1999 in Indiana by tweeting that the local union leader “has done a terrible job representing workers”;[38] the union president received threatening phone calls afterward. [39] Trump often gives opponents nicknames such as “Lyin’ Ted”. [40][41]

Trump has been criticized for his practice of retweeting or copying material from social media accounts posting antisemitic, racist, or false information, such as claims exaggerating the number of crimes committed by black people. [42][43][44]

PolitiFact singled out as particularly obviously false an image retweeted by Trump that claimed that 81% of white murder victims are killed by black people. Politifact noted that, besides being a five-fold exaggeration, the claim was sourced to the non-existent “Crime Statistics Bureau, San Francisco”; it later highlighted this retweet when awarding its 2015 “Lie of the Year” badge to Trump’s entire presidential campaign. [45][46] The fake statistics were first posted by a neo-Nazi Twitter account. [44]

An image posted by Trump on July 2, 2016 called Hillary Clinton the “Most Corrupt Candidate Ever!” and featured a six-pointed star reminiscent of the Jewish Star of David; the image first appeared in a June 15 tweet by “@FishBoneHead1,” a Twitter account described by the Associated Press as being known for “anti-Clinton and right-leaning messages and images” and by Mic as promoting “violent, racist memes,” before making its way to 8chan‘s /pol/ on June 22. [47][48] Trump’s social media manager Dan Scavino responded that the image had been sourced by him from a Twitter page “where countless images appear” and that he had assumed that the star referred to a sheriff’s badge. [47][48][49] Under two hours later, the tweet was deleted from Trump’s account in favor of a nearly identical tweet with a circle in place of the star, but Trump later blamed the deletion on his staff, stating: “I would’ve rather defended it.”[48][50] Jeremy Diamond of CNN observed: “It wasn’t the six-pointed star alone that evoked anti-Semitism—it’s the combination of the star with a background of money and an accusation of corruption, which suggests stereotypical views of Jews and money and raises conspiracy theories that Jews control political systems.”[51] The episode led Dana Schwartza Jewish employee of Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushnerto write an open letter to him in protest, to which he responded. [52][53]

Trump’s sharing of the tweets was praised across far-right circles, increased Islamophobic comment on social media, and elevated the profile of Britain First. [71][72] In Britain, It was hailed by Fransen herself and by Britain First’s leader Paul Goldingwho said “Donald Trump himself has retweeted these videos and has around 44 million followers! God Bless You Trump!”[73][61][58][74][75]

In a January 2018 interview with Piers Morgan for Good Morning BritainTrump said he was not familiar with Britain First when he retweeted them, stating, “If you are telling me they’re horrible people, horrible, racist people, I would certainly apologise if you’d like me to do that.”[79]

In a succession of tweets on March 4, 2017,[80][a] President Trump stated he had “just found out” that former President Obama had wiretapped the phones in his offices at Trump Tower during the last months of the 2016 election. The tweets resulted in a week of media attention given to the allegations, despite scarce evidence. Fake news websites did also take up the allegations, and one even claimed that a warrant for Barack Obama’s arrest had been given. [80][81] He did not say where he had obtained the information and offered no evidence to support it. [82] Trump compared the alleged intrusion to McCarthyism and Watergate. Anonymous White House officials told The Washington Post that Trump did not appear to coordinate his comments with other White House officials. [81]

In September, CNN reported that the FBI wiretapped Paul ManafortTrump’s former campaign chairman, in 2016-17, either during or after his tenure with the Trump campaign. This does not confirm the accuracy of Trump’s tweets, as it is not known whether any surveillance of Manafort took place at Trump Tower and there is no evidence that Obama requested the wiretap, which was authorized by a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) court warrant. [83][84][85][86]

Trump has repeatedly attacked former FBI Director James Comeywhom Trump dismissed from officevia Twitter. [87] Trump has posted a number of angry tweets directed at Robert Muellerwho was appointed as a special prosecutor to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. [88][89]

On May 31, 2017, Trump sent out a tweet that read, in its entirety, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”. It immediately went viralbecoming an Internet meme and a source of widespread jokes. [90][91] The tweet was retweeted over 127,000 times, and liked more than 162,000 times, making it one of Trump’s most popular tweets in months, as people speculated on the meaning of covfefe. Six hours later, Trump deleted the tweet and posted an alternative one, asking people what they thought covfefe could mean. [92]The Independent later noted that covfefe most likely meant coverage. [93]

Off camera, at a press briefing later the same day, Sean Spicer responded to questions about the tweet with the statement “the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant”. No further explanation was given during the briefing. [94] Some reporters, observing that Spicer did not appear to be joking, were concerned by the implications. Conservative columnist Jonah Goldbergwriting for the National Reviewconsidered it unlikely that covfefe is “some esoteric code word”, suggesting instead, “Spicer feels compelled to protect the myth of Trumpian infallibility at all costs”. [95]The Atlantic‘s Megan Garber felt that Spicer’s response further divided the White House from the public by giving a likely typo “the whiff of conspiracy”. [96] At The Washington PostCallum Borchers instead argued that the deliberately obscure response was an intentional tactic to distract the media and public from the administration’s other controversies. [97]

After the June 2017 London attackMayor of LondonSadiq Khan condemned it and said that “the city remains one of the safest in the world” and there was “no reason to be alarmed” over the increased police presence around the city. [103][104] The latter comment was taken out of context and criticized by Trump in a tweet: “At least 7 dead and 48 wounded in terror attack and Mayor of London says there is ‘no reason to be alarmed!'”[105][106]

Trump’s comments were described as a deliberate misrepresentation of Khan’s remarks by his spokesman,[107] as well as by former U.S. Vice President Al Gore. Prime Minister Theresa May said that “Sadiq Khan is doing a good job and it is wrong to say anything else”. [106]Conservative minister Penny Mordaunt and Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron also backed Khan. Farron said, “Sadiq Khan has shown calm and dignified resolve in the face of these cowardly terrorist attacks. He is more of a statesman than Donald Trump will ever be.”[108]Lewis Lukensthe former US ambassador to the UK, and the United States Conference of Mayors declared their support, with Lukens commending Khan’s “strong leadership” in leading London forward after the attack and also praising the “extraordinary response” from the law enforcement community. [109][110] Trump tweeted the following day that the London Mayor was offering a “pathetic excuse” for his statement, and alleging that the mainstream media were “working hard to sell” Khan’s explanation. [106][107][111][112] When asked about these comments following a vigil held near Tower BridgeKhan stated that he was busy dealing with the aftermath of the attack and declared that he has not “got the time to respond to tweets from Donald Trump”. [112]

Trump’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trumpdefended his comments and claimed that Khan, who worked along with the security services and held a vigil for victims of the attack, was not doing enough to combat terrorism. Trump Jr. stated that Khan should stop attacking his father, despite the fact that Khan did not respond to Trump’s comments. [113]

Senator John McCain criticized the comments made by Trump, stating that America was “not showing leadership around the world.”[114] During the same discussion, McCain also commented that the former-President Barack Obama and his administration had offered better leadership. He later partially retracted by stating that only certain “different aspects” were better during Obama’s presidency, but still stood by his criticism of Trump’s social media views. [115][116]

The Qatar diplomatic crisis is an escalation of the Qatar–Saudi Arabia proxy conflictit began when several countries abruptly cut off diplomatic relations with Qatar in June 2017. These countries included Saudi ArabiaUnited Arab EmiratesBahrainand Egyptwhich cited Qatar’s alleged support for terrorism as the main reason for their actions. [117] The severing of relations included withdrawing ambassadors, and imposing trade and travel bans. President Donald Trump claimed credit for engineering the diplomatic crisis in a series of tweets. [118] On June 6, Trump began by tweeting: “During my recent trip to the Middle East I stated that there can no longer be funding of Radical Ideology. Leaders pointed to Qatar – look!”[119][118] An hour and a half later, he remarked on Twitter that it was “good to see the Saudi Arabia visit with the King and 50 countries already paying off. They said they would take a hard line on funding extremism, and all reference [sic] was pointing to Qatar. Perhaps this will be the beginning of the end to the horror of terrorism!”[120][121] This was in contrast to attempts by The Pentagon and State department to remain neutral. The Pentagon praised Qatar for hosting the Al Udeid Air Base and for its “enduring commitment to regional security.” US Ambassador to QatarDana Shell Smithsent a similar message. [122][123] Earlier, the US Secretary of State had taken a neutral stance and called for dialogue. [124]

On June 29, 2017, Trump tweeted about Morning Joe hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarboroughwho earlier in the day had talked about Trump on their show. The tweets referred to the hosts as “low I.Q. Crazy Mika, along with Psycho Joe”, and claimed that Brzezinski tried to join Trump on New Year’s Eve but was declined because she was bleeding from a facelift. [126]

MSNBC stated, “It’s a sad day for America when the president spends his time bullying, lying and spewing petty personal attacks instead of doing his job.”[128] Aaron Blake of the Washington Post wrote an article titled “Trump’s very bad tweets about Mika Brzezinski are a microcosm of his struggling presidency.”[129]

Seemingly in defense of Trump, Melania Trump‘s spokeswoman Stephanie Grisham released the statement: “As the First Lady has stated publicly in the past, when her husband gets attacked, he will punch back 10 times harder.”[125]Sarah Huckabee Sanders stated, “Look, I don’t think that the president’s ever been someone who gets attacked and doesn’t push back. … This is a president who fights fire with fire and certainly will not be allowed to be bullied by liberal media and the liberal elites in Hollywood or anywhere else.”[130]

On July 1, 2017, Trump tweeted “Crazy Joe Scarborough and dumb as a rock Mika are not bad people, but their low rated show is dominated by their NBC bosses. Too bad!”[131]

After these tweets, Trump’s approval rating decreased from 40% to 37%, according to a Gallup poll. [8] However, the RealClearPolitics average of polls showed his approval rating remained virtually unchanged in the same time period. [132]

On July 2, 2017, Trump tweeted a video of himself attacking Vince McMahon during WrestleMania 23 with the CNN logo over McMahon’s face. In response, Brian Stelter of CNN issued a statement saying that Trump was “encouraging violence against reporters” and “involved in juvenile behavior far below the dignity of his office”. [133][134][135][136] CNN also responded to the tweet by quoting Sarah Huckabee Sanders who claimed the previous week “The president in no way form or fashion has ever promoted or encouraged violence.”[133]Homeland Security AdvisorTom Bossert said that “no one would perceive [the tweet] as a threat.”[133][137] Trump subsequently said that CNN took the post too seriously, adding that CNN has “hurt themselves very badly”. [138]

The clip appeared on pro-Trump subreddit/r/The Donaldabout four days earlier,[133][139][140][141] and was created by a Reddit account which had previously posted racist, antisemitic and bigoted content. [142] A White House official later denied that the video came from Reddit; the official declined “to respond to questions about where the president obtained the clip.”[143] As of July 5, 2017[update]the tweet had been retweeted over 340,000 times, making it Trump’s most retweeted post.

In September 2017, Trump posted tweets about North Korea that some saw as violating Twitter’s rule against making threats of violence. On September 19, he stated that under certain circumstances, “we will have no choice but to totally destroy #NoKo”, and on September 23, “Just heard Foreign Minister of North Korea speak at U.N. If he echoes thoughts of Little Rocket Man, they won’t be around much longer!” (“Little Rocket Man” is Trump’s nickname for North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.) In response to user concerns, Twitter cited newsworthiness and whether the tweet is of public interest as factors they consider in whether a tweet violates their rules. The company acknowledged that these guidelines are internal, and stated they would update their public-facing rules to reflect them. [145]

As president, Trump has frequently used Twitter to make personal attacks against federal judges who have ruled against him in court cases. [146][147][148] In February 2017, Trump referred to U.S. District Judge James Robartwho had enjoined Trump’s travel ban from taking effect, as a “so-called judge” and wrote, “If something happens blame him and court system. People pouring in. Bad!”[148] Legal experts expressed concerns that such comments undermined the federal judiciary and could “undermine public confidence in an institution capable checking his power.”[147]

In June 2017, Trump criticized his own United States Department of Justice for defending his “watered down, politically correct version” of a travel ban (which Trump signed in March 2017) in court, rather than an initial version of the ban that Trump has signed in January 2017 (and was later declared unconstitutional by federal courts). [149][150][151] In January 2018, Trump tweeted that his Justice Department is part of the American “deep state”. [152] In March 2018, Trump tweeted that “there was tremendous leaking, lying and corruption at the highest levels of the FBIJustice & State” Departments. [153] Previously in December 2017, Trump tweeted that the FBI’s “reputation” was at its the worst ever after years under James Comey. [154]

In February 2018, after National Security AdvisorH. R. McMaster said there was “incontrovertible” evidence that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, Trump tweeted that McMaster “forgot to say” that the Russians had colluded with the Democrats and that the Russians had not impacted the election results. [164]

The @realDonaldTrump account has blocked various Twitter accounts from viewing his Twitter feed. [165][166]

In July 2017, a lawsuit was brought by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University in United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. (The federal suit, case number 1:17-cv-05205, was filed in the Southern District of New York.) The plaintiffs are 7 Twitter users, whose accounts who had been blocked from President Donald Trump’s personal Twitter account, alleging that the @realDonaldTrump account constitutes a public forum. The lawsuit argues that blocking access to @realDonaldTrump account is a violation of constitutional rights and a violation of the plaintiff’s First Amendment rights. Issues arise as to how the Constitution applies to freedom of speech in digital computer technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, career interests and other forms of expression via virtual communities and networks. [167] The lawsuit also names as defendants White House press secretary Sean Spicer and social media director Dan Scavino. [168][169]

Trump’s statements in tweets have been cited in court challenges against his actions as president; his Twitter posts on Muslims have been significant in legal challenges to Executive Order 13769 (which Trump has called a “travel ban”), as courts have considered Trump’s statements in assessing the motivations and purpose of the order. [171] In 2017, Trump’s tweets were cited by both the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuitwhich upheld rulings blocking Trump’s executive order as unconstitutional. In its opinion, the Fourth Circuit cited the “backdrop of public statements by the President and his advisers and representatives” as evidence that the order “drips with religious intolerance, animus, and discrimination”; the Ninth Circuit wrote that “throughout these judicial proceedings, the president has continued to make generalized, often inflammatory, statements about the Muslim faith and its adherents,” including through Tweets. [172]Peter J. Spiroa legal scholar at Temple Universitynoted that Trump’s November 2017 tweets of anti-Muslim videos would almost certainly be cited by challengers to Trump’s third version of a travel ban, as evidence that the orders were unconstitutionally motivated by anti-Muslim animus. [173]

“[Trump] abruptly announced, via Twitter—without any of the formality or deliberative processes that generally accompany the development and announcement of major policy changes that will gravely affect the lives of many Americans—that all transgender individuals would be precluded from participating in the military in any capacity. These circumstances provide additional support for Plaintiffs’ claim that the decision to exclude transgender individuals was not driven by genuine concerns regarding military efficacy.”[174][175]

On December 22, 2016 Trump posted: ’Based on the tremendous cost and cost overruns of the Lockheed Martin F-35, I have asked Boeing to price-out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet!‘ [177] After this post, the stocks of Lockheed Martin dropped significantly and the stock price of Boeing increased slightly. Another example is the on August 17, 2017 post on Amazon: ‘Amazon is doing great damage to tax paying retailers. Towns, cities and states throughout the U.S. are being hurt – many jobs being lost!‘[178] Afterwards, the market capitalization of Amazon declined by $6 billion. [179] However, there are also contrary examples: The New York Times stock remained stable or even rose when Trump posted about ‘failing New York Times.’[180]

Trump’s personal Twitter account was deactivated for eleven minutes on November 2, 2017. The official @POTUS account remained online during the period that the personal account was taken offline. [188][189][190] Twitter announced that the account’s shutdown was accidental. Moments later, it followed up with the information that a customer support employee deliberately deactivated the account on his last day of work. [191] On November 29, 2017, a German man of Turkish descent named Bahtiyar Duysak was identified by media outlets as being the Twitter employee who deactivated the account. [192][193][194][195][196][197] Donald Trump blamed a “rogue employee” for the temporary loss of his account. [198]

In his interviews with TechCrunch and CNN Duysak underlined that he didn’t do anything illegal. [199][200] Duysak was working for Twitter’s Trust and Safety division while in the U.S. on a work and study visa. [201] After the incident Duysak moved back home to Germany. He stated that his visa had expired. [202][203]

In August 2017, former CIA agent Valerie Plame Wilson set up a GoFundMe fundraising page in an attempt to buy a majority interest in Twitter and kick Donald Trump off of the network. [206]

Some commentators view Trump’s tweets as having either the purpose or effect of distracting from issues. [207] Dan Mahaffee of the Center for the Study of the Presidency and Congress opined that Trump’s tweets distracted from pressing national issues, writing that to dismiss Trump’s tweets “as intemperate outbursts or merely stream-of-consciousness responses to current events would thus greatly underestimate their impact and reach” and opining that Trump’s tweets elevated “the trivial at the expense of the consequential.”[208]Financial Times columnist Courtney Weaver viewed Trump’s Twitter attacks against NFL players kneeling during the national anthem as “weapons of mass distraction” that diverted attention from the humanitarian crisis in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Mariaand wrote that “The more time that is spent discussing the president’s latest stand-off with the NFL, the less time is spent discussing the Republicans’ latest failed efforts to repeal and replace Obamacareand other administration shortcomings.”[209] Analyst Philip Bump of the Washington Post views Trump’s Tweets as attempts to distract in times of unfavorable news related to the investigation by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III. [210]

Other commentators do not agree with the notion that Trump’s tweets are distractions. Essayist Frank Rich of New York magazine argues that Trump’s Tweets (1) are frequently news in themselves; (2) indicate a heightened instability within Trump administration; and (3) are not aimed at news consumers, but rather “are intended to rally his base” of supporters. [211]

A series of accusations which happen one week after Facebook affirmed that the company was ready to cooperate with the parliamentary committee which investigates into the links between the electoral campaign Trump and Russia. Facebook revealed on this occasion that accounts bound according to its analysis to the Russian government had bought for approximately 100 000 dollars of Facebook advertisements during the electoral campaign, what would constitute an important intervention in the U.S. elections. [217]

In response, Trump claimed that Facebook was against him, criticizing the website in a series of comments on Twitter published on September 27. He said, “Facebook was always anti-Trump. Television channels were always anti-Trump, where from fake news – the New York Times (which apologized) and the Washington Post were anti-Trump. Collusion?”. [218] Zuckerberg replied directly to Donald Trump in a statement posted to Facebook: “Trump says Facebook is against him. Liberals say we helped Trump. Both sides are upset about ideas and content they don’t like. That’s what running a platform for all ideas looks like.”[219][220]

A Wired article asserted that as Trump’s Facebook ads were controversial, he was charged less per ad than Clinton was, as he was boosted by the clickrate of his ads. [221] In response to this, Facebook released data showing that Trump was charged more for his ads, but did not provide data on how the ads were shared by users. [222]

Donald Trump initially used his personal account on Instagram (@realDonaldTrump) primarily to share personal pictures, including images of himself with his grandchildren. [223][224] In September 2015—then with approximately 377thousand followers—[223] he used the platform to release a political advertisement. This ad, “Act of Love“, attacked primary opponent Jeb Bush on the topic of immigration. Along with Bush’s responses, it demonstrated that Instagram could be a political tool rather than merely a personal photo-sharing application. [223] Trump also used the platform to contribute to the controversy regarding the 2016 filmGhostbusters by posting a video criticizing the all-female cast. In response, director Paul Feig claimed that “Trump supporters” were responsible for some of the “internet hate” directed at the film. [225]

When Trump became president, his personal account had grown to over 5million followers. [224] He also assumed control of an official account (@whitehouse), where he posted pictures from his inauguration. [224] At that time, it was expected that the official account would primarily feature the work of the Chief Official White House Photographer once one was selected;[224] however, Shealah Craighead has contributed relatively little, especially in comparison to Pete Souza‘s work during the Obama administration. [226]

^Peter Baker & Eileen Sullivan, Trump Shares Inflammatory Anti-Muslim Videos, and Britain’s Leader Condemns ThemArchived November 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine., New York Times (November 29, 2017): “No modern American president has promoted inflammatory content of this sort from an extremist organization. Mr. Trump’s two most recent predecessors, George W. Bush and Barack Obama, both made a point of avoiding public messages that were likely to be seen as anti-Muslim and could exacerbate racial and religious animosities, arguing that the war against terrorism was not a war against Islam.”

^Goldman, Russell (September 27, 2017). “Trump Deletes Tweets Supporting Luther Strange”. The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 27, 2017. Retrieved September 27, 2017. At least two government watchdog groups, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington and the National Security Archive, believe that when Mr. Trump deletes a tweet he may be breaking the law.